11/29/2010

Bring back the fairness doctrine!by Brian Johnson - November 29, 2010h/t The Blaze
This is the mantra of the left when they don't like what they hear on radio. especially if it's effective.The claim is that we need more diversity on radio. If there is a Rush Limbaugh out there, then it's only fair that there is Michael Moore. They claim we need balance. Just like on T.V., right? For the most part, news channels lean to the left. Some more than others. MSNBC certainly holds down the far left side of the spectrum in news content (if you don't count PBS). The rest lean varying degrees to the left, with FOX leaning to the right. To be fair, the news programs themselves have to be separated from the shows that are commentary. On Fox, Sheppard Smith is reporting news, Hannity is commenting. On MSNBC, Brian Williams reports, Maddow opines. It is interesting to find out what the news programs actually report though. What each news organization views as "newsworthy." This is where the bias generally rears its ugly head in television news, although frequency of airing a particular story, or how the story is presented are pretty good indications of how the news organization leans.

Radio is a little different. There are literally hundreds of stations to choose from on your radio, especially with the advent of satellite radio. California alone has 925 stations to choose from, not counting the satellite radio. On the talk radio bands alone there are All News, news/talk, free speech, financial, Korean, community, Christian talk, Catholic Talk, Sports Talk, Local issues, , etc. The list goes on and on.

So what is Howard Dean talking about when he says that we need balance? He is talking about speech he agrees with. There are liberal commentators out there - Amy Goodman, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Bernie Ward, Mike Malloy, and Bill Press, to name a few. I've listened to a few. I was probably one of a few that was tuning in. They were not enjoyable to listen to. That's kind of the bottom line, isn't it? I'm sure that if there were a liberal talk show host that was great, who appealed to the masses, they would have 20 million listeners, and advertisers beating their door down. At the end of the day, the stations need to make money. Rush Sean, and Levin do that - in truck loads. We don't need a fairness doctrine. The left needs better hosts.